


morning runs and evening showers

by QQI25



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Gen, Hair Washing, Intimacy, Non-Sexual Intimacy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-09
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 10:49:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29932299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QQI25/pseuds/QQI25
Summary: Two snapshots of different times of day: after one of Dex's morning runs and during one of Nursey's evening showers.
Relationships: Derek "Nursey" Nurse & William "Dex" Poindexter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	morning runs and evening showers

**Author's Note:**

> their relationship is in an ambiguous space where it can be seen as romo, but they haven't like. talked about it or put a label or anything. idk man, d-man drift compatibility
> 
> if you like listening to music while reading, i recommend listening to [i love you baby, i love you doll by parekh and singh](https://youtu.be/kp_0GThdZDQ) for the beginning, and [i will by mitski](https://youtu.be/ODPra5VxNLI) after the break, with the line beginning "Nursey likes showering/bathing". i just rly like these songs, and i feel like they fit the mood! :-)

Dex starts going on his morning runs outside again when March comes. It’s still cold, but now cold means in the 30s, rather than in the 10s. It’s a helluva lot better being out in the cold rather than in a boring building. And it’s really nice. He _likes_ the way it leaves his nose and hands numbingly cold. Even with a beanie, his ears get cold, and he likes that too. It makes him feel alive. 

For the most part, Nursey has gotten used to it. Sometimes he wakes up when Dex gets back—even though he’s quiet as possible—and sometimes he doesn’t. Today he wakes up, and lately that’s been happening more and more. Dex has just sat down in their desk chair when he hears the rustle of blankets. Nursey turns around to face Dex, head poking above the blankets, and he feels an immense fondness settling over him, warming him up. 

“Morning,” Dex says, smiling.

“G’morning. Time s’it?” Nursey says, yawning. 

“Around 7:30,” Dex answers. Nursey wrinkles his nose and makes grabby hands. Bemused, Dex scoots the chair closer and holds out his own. Nursey hisses, but keeps Dex’s hands in his, bringing them back under the blanket.

“What are you doing?” he asks with laughter in his voice. 

“‘M warming you up. You’re freezing,” Nursey says simply. Dex shrugs a shoulder.

“I like it. Makes me feel awake.” 

“Maybe you wouldn’t need to wake yourself up if you just woke up a bit later,” Nursey snarks back. “Remind me again why you go on runs so early?”

“It’s like . . . my own little world. Especially back home, living with a big family. Plus, it’s nice to watch the sun rise and the Earth wake up.”

“How poetic,” Nursey says. “We may make a poet of you yet.” He’s smiling and his eyes have closed again. He looks peaceful like this, _ac_ tually chill rather than the show he puts on most of the time. 

“Are you done with my hands? I need to shower.”

“Sufficiently warmed,” Nursey declares. He lets go of Dex’s hands, retreating back under the blanket. Dex misses the warmth. 

“Go back to sleep. I’ll wake you for team breakfast.” Dex smooths back Nursey’s hair and Nursey hums in contentment. He’s already almost asleep, Dex can tell. 

Nursey likes showering/bathing anytime from the late afternoon into the evening. Dex had thought it was weird at first, but he’s since come to realise that his own showers are to wake him up, and Nursey’s are to calm him down. Sometimes when Nursey showers, he asks Dex to come in and just sit outside the tub. He still remembers the first time Nursey had asked that of him.

“I’m gonna take a bath. Can you . . . come in? I mean in as in the bathroom, not the bath. And just sit in there with me. I know it’s stupid.” He’s looking down at his shoes and somehow, even at 6’2, he looks small and vulnerable. Any weirdness Dex might’ve felt about it gets overpowered by the concern. 

“Yeah, of course. Course, Nursey.” He can _see_ Nursey’s relief in the way his shoulders drop and he straightens up a little. 

It’s never gotten less awkward for Nursey to ask, it seems like. He always asks like it’s a secret, or something to be embarrassed about. Dex doesn’t care, having gotten used to the casual intimacies that come with being on the Samwell Men’s Hockey team. He just always makes sure he’s in a tank and shorts, because it gets hot. Today, Nursey asks with the same uncertainty, and he answers with the same firmness. 

Dex waits ‘til Nursey goes in and gets settled in the bath, then goes in himself, locks the doors, and settles against the door closer to Chowder’s room. Sometimes, today, Dex rests his arm on the . . . sill of the tub, for lack of a better word, palm up. Nursey always takes it, and Dex can feel his gratitude in the way he holds his hand. 

He’d been busy today, after team breakfast. He had his two classes, and then he and Chowder had gone to Chowder’s room to work on their projects for the class they had together. Nursey had come along, as he sometimes did. Today, he’d sprawled across their laps with his head in Dex’s and his legs in Chowder’s, and Dex and Chowder had had to move the table so they could put their laptops on it. Nobody had really talked, aside from the few times they took longer breaks. Every now and then, Dex would put what he hoped was a reassuring hand on Nursey’s shoulder. It always seemed to relax him, so Dex supposed it was. 

“Are we washing your hair today?” Dex asks. 

“Yeah, please,” Nursey says. “Co-washing.” Dex waits ‘til Nursey’s ready to let go of his hand, and then they turn around so they’re closer to their door and thus the showerhead. He stands up to get it, and then sits back down, resting it on the bathtub sill. 

“Can you tip your head back?” Dex asks. Nursey does, closing his eyes, and Dex makes sure all his hair gets wet. When he’s done, he cradles the back of Nursey’s head, and Nursey sits back up. Dex gets up and sits on the tub sill, his knees bracketing Nursey’s shoulders, and starts putting conditioner in Nursey’s hair. 

This is another thing they’d talked about, washing Nursey’s hair. Sometimes, he just doesn’t have the energy to do it, and Dex had been willing to learn and he’d been willing to teach. Often, these days align with the days he wants company, so it’s perfect. He uses shampoo every two weeks, and conditioner every two days. It’s soothing, not just for Nursey but for Dex too. He doesn’t have to do anything but wash Nursey’s hair, and the repetitive motions are calming. 

“I’m gonna wash it out now. Tip your head back?” Dex holds the showerhead in his left hand and shields Nursey’s forehead with his right. 

When he and his siblings were younger, they’d taken turns getting their hair washed by their parents. Their parents had done the same to him, tipped his head back and shielded his forehead. Afterwards, they’d all lay down on their parents’ bed, head right at the edge so their hair was hanging off, as their hair was blow dried. He hadn’t really needed it, but it’d been fun, lying there with his siblings. 

He starts talking softly; Nursey doesn’t like to be left in the quiet when he gets like this. Dex talks about how his day was, his classes, the projects he and Chowder were working on earlier. He talks about the one kid who’d fallen asleep in class and been caught by the teacher, how embarrassed he’d be if that ever happened to him. That gets a little laugh out of Nursey. He talks about his weird dream that didn’t really make sense, where he’s at his house except his house is a mall, and some kid in a stereotypical UFO flies up to the balcony where he’s sitting and whisks him off into space. That gets a quiet comment out of Nursey about how Dex’s brain is a strange place he’d like to explore. Dex smiles to himself. 

When he’s done, he shuts off the showerhead and he and Nursey go back to sitting against the wall closer to Chowder’s room so they can be more comfortable. Dex puts his arm back on the sill, and Nursey takes it again. He’s all out of stories, so with his left hand, he takes out his phone and starts going through Tumblr, reading aloud funny posts. For all that they used to fight, they have a lot in common, including a weird sense of humour. 

“I think I’m ready,” Nursey eventually says. Dex looks over at him, and his head is still tilted back, eyes closed. His hand is still in Dex’s. 

“Yeah?” Dex asks. 

“Yeah.” 

“‘Kay. Have a good rest of your bath.” He slips his phone into his pocket and, on an impulse, kisses Nursey’s hand before letting go and getting up. Nursey smiles at him in wonder, and Dex smiles back. “I’ll leave the door open a bit.” 

Nursey hadn’t set clothes out for himself, so Dex does that now. He grabs the softest clothes of Nursey’s he can find, and puts his own sweatshirt at the bottom of the pile. When the water shuts off, he brings the clothes into the bathroom and sets them on top of the closed toilet seat. Nursey comes out looking a lot better, a lot more relaxed, and they go down for team dinner together.

**Author's Note:**

> \- hello! i'd like to give a big thanku to nurseydex, abt whom i can write without?? needing prompts?? wow such a change from the usual
> 
> \- i myself am not Black, so like if anything is inaccurate please do tell me! i got the info about hair care from [this post](https://naturalhairinsights.com/how-often-should-black-men-wash-their-hair/#How_often_should_black_men_wash_their_hair)
> 
> \- after writing, i realise it makes me think of [this web weaving post](https://crookedtidalwaves.tumblr.com/post/644232031732121600), which has a special place in my heart (most web weaving posts i've seen do tbh lol)
> 
> \- i've got [a nurseydex playlist on spotify](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4RTTwlw9DKxQNSFeqHBq9V?si=KXpKyM8MQL2ZwmZtwfzzUA)!! it is very long, but it is also very beautiful, if i do say so myself. it used to be at 69 songs, but i will by mitski?? wow


End file.
